What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
by Kimmie98
Summary: After a painful break-up and general bad luck with men, Kayla vowed to never give her heart away again. He was hot-headed and temperamental, believing love was something he would never experience. When their lives cross paths, can they help each other to trust one another with their heart? Sometimes love can be found in places you least expect.
1. Chapter 1

**WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED  
**

**Title:** What Becomes of the Brokenhearted

**Summary:** After a painful break-up and general bad luck with men, Kayla vowed to never give her heart away again. He was hot-headed and temperamental, believing love was something he would never experience. When their lives cross paths, can they help each other to trust one another with their heart? Sometimes love can be found in places you least expect.

**Genre:** Romance/Hurt/Comfort

**Characters/Pairings:** Raph/OC. The guys are in their mid-20s.

**Disclaimer:** TMNT is the property of Eastman & Laird and Nickelodeon. I wish I owned Raphael *sigh*. I do own Kayla Martin.

**A/N:** Constructive criticism is welcome. A big thank you to FreyReh for threatening… errrr, ummmm, encouraging this novice writer . And many many many HUGE thanks to my super-awesome beta DarkUnderworld. She ROCKS!

**Chapter 1**

_"Kayla, wait! It's not what you think! Let me explain!" the male voice shouted at her, even though it seemed as if his voice was coming from somewhere far away, echoing around almost painfully in her head.  
_

_She turned to face her soon-to-be-ex-fiancé as he ran after her, her dark brown eyes blazing with anger and heartbroken sadness._

_"Hmmmm, let me guess, you're going to 'explain' how I didn't see you and my best friend in bed together? I didn't hear you say, 'Don't worry, Kayla will never find out. I've got her wrapped around my little finger?' You're going to 'explain' how I didn't hear her repeatedly moan your name as you fucked her? Is that it?" she asked bitingly as she struggled to keep the tears that were building and trembling upon her lashes from falling down her cold, mocha colored cheeks._

_She wanted to cry, she NEEDED to cry, but not here, and not in front of him, because he didn't deserve her heart, and he didn't deserve any sort of 'second chance'._

_He struggled to say something, anything to defend himself or refute the charges she had leveled against him. "Well, I, ummmm, what happened is…" the tall, muscular brown-skinned male stammered as he rubbed the back of his head, his hazel eyes searching the room as he struggled to come up with an excuse, or better a lie, and found he couldn't._  
_"Save it! I'm not interested in hearing your sorry ass 'explanation'. Now if you will EXCUSE me, I have somewhere else to be. But before I go, I want to return this, because I don't need it anymore." She took off the 3-carat diamond ring and threw it in his face. "In fact, why don't you give it to MICHELLE," the name feeling like acid on her tongue. "Maybe she'll fall for your lies and deceit, because I'm sure as hell not going to anymore." Turning her back to him, she started to walk away._

_He grabbed her wrist. "Kayla, baby, I'm sorry. Please don't leave. Can't we talk about this?"_

_She whirled around and slapped him hard across his left cheek, the sound of flesh against flesh echoing in the small confines of his apartment. Shaking out her hand, she glared at him. "There is nothing to talk about. You're only sorry you got caught. Goodbye, David." She turned and quickly walked away from him so that he wouldn't get to see the twin trains of heartbreak that tumbled their way down her cheeks._

.

.

.  
It had been one year since Kayla had broken up with her fiancé David Parker. As she sat in the local coffee shop sipping on her white chocolate mocha latte, she wondered: Why? Why was love so hard and so cruel? Every relationship she'd been in seemed to end in heartbreak. She wondered if maybe something was wrong with her that had caused this to happen.

Her ex-boyfriend Greg openly admitted to toying with her feelings when she had confronted him. Her ex before Greg had been Tony. He seemed to care, but his actions, flirting with other women, spending more time with his buddies than her, calling her jealous and clingy when she'd try to talk to him about it, showed otherwise. When she had met David, she thought she'd finally found The One. He was kind, caring, handsome, and charming. He treated her like a woman wanted to be treated. She couldn't help falling in love with him, and she thought he had loved her as much as she loved him. She had been planning a wedding, a life, a future with him, until that fateful day when she had walked in on him and her now ex-best friend Michelle.

She didn't think that she would be able to survive the kind of pain that comes when someone you love and trust betrays you and breaks your heart into so many tiny fragments that you are sure that it can never be put back together again.

Kayla fought back tears as she looked at the picture of her father. Her life had never been the same since he passed away eleven years ago when she was just a teenager. Her mother had died when she was just a baby, so it'd just been her and her father all those years.

She was his baby girl, and he was the one she felt safe with; the only one who would never hurt her. And now that he was gone, she didn't think she'd ever find that kind of safety and security again.

Sure she was doing pretty well for herself; a good job, nice apartment. However, there was still a part of her that longed for companionship, but did she dare risk her heart again?

She dropped her locket and looked towards the window of the coffee shop she was currently sitting outside of. She studied the reflection of the twenty-five year old professional looking woman who looked back at her. Her shoulder-length black hair was pulled up into a ponytail at the back of her head, her mocha-colored skin gleamed in the sunlight, her dark eyes staring back at her as if they perhaps contained the answer to her silent question.

Sighing, she finished her drink and headed to the subway station to go home, not noticing that she was being followed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** TMNT is the property of Eastman & Laird and Nickelodeon. I only own Kayla Martin.

**A/N:** Constructive criticism is welcome. Thank you to FreyReh, Nittleboo, Tamaki's Haruchan, FireHippie, theresfireinmyheart, and pandasize for your reviews. Special thanks to SleepingSeeker (especially for the birthday gift, she knows what I mean :-D) and Livangel16 for their suggestions/feedback.

And super-ultra mega thanks to DarkUnderworld, the most awesomest beta EVER! *throws confetti and blows noisemaker* :-)

My apologies if this is short. One of these days, I'll learn to write longer chapters.

**Chapter 2**

Sitting in the cafeteria during her lunch break, Kayla was only half listening to what her co-worker Erika was saying.

"Timothy sent me the most beautiful flowers today, and tonight he's taking me out for dinner and a show. He's so wonderful. I never thought I'd meet someone like him. He's loyal, kind, considerate, a good listener, and pretty good-looking to boot."

Pasting on a fake smile, Kayla replied, "That's great, Erika. I'm happy for you." She hastily excused herself, and went back to her office, hoping that the rest of the day would go by quickly.

After a hard day at work at Columbia University, Kayla was looking forward to relaxing at home. Between listening to her co-worker Erika gush about how wonderful her boyfriend Timothy was and having to rush to finish a project her boss had dumped on her at the last minute, she was anxiously looking forward to some rest and relaxation.

While her job as the VP's executive assistant paid well, it could also be stressful at times; like today. It seemed as if her "to-do" list was never-ending: scheduling meetings, making travel arrangements for four out-of-state conferences, editing notes and preparing a comprehensive Power Point presentation that her boss gave her to complete 30 minutes before his next meeting, ordering supplies and equipment, un-jamming the copier about 10 times, etc. And whenever something went wrong (fortunately, those instances were few and far between), it always came back to her. It sometimes made her want to pull her hair out. Needless to say, she was looking forward to the three-day weekend ahead of her.

As she sat in the coffee shop sipping on her beverage, she observed a couple not far away from her. They were sitting close to each other, the man with his arm around the woman's shoulders. He whispered something in her ear, she smiled, leaned up and kissed him.

She quickly looked away as tears started to form in her eyes. She wanted that kind of love and companionship and had come so close to having it, until she had caught David and Michelle together.

Michelle, the one whom she trusted and loved like a sister; Michelle, the one who set her up with David, and the one who hurt and betrayed her in the worst possible way.

Now, as Kayla looked back, she should've seen the warning signs; the flirty glances, the hugs that seemed to last a little too long for her taste, etc. Funny how it takes years to build up trust and only minutes to destroy it.

As a song began to play in the background, she looked down at the locket around her neck. She opened it and, seeing the picture of her father inside, again felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought back to the day he was tragically lost.

_She had gone to her Aunt Nina's house after school because her father hadn't thought that it was a good idea for her to be home alone. He was to come and pick her up at 5 p.m. _

_It had been 7 p.m., and she hadn't heard anything from him yet. Worry had began to creep up, but she dismissed it; believing that he had to stay late at work. And even though she knew that her father should have called to let her know that he was going to be late, she had dismissed this thought anyway._

_And then the phone had rung. She had looked at the caller ID in confusion as the words, 'Union Memorial Hospital'. She had wondered why would they be calling._

_"I'll get it," Aunt Nina had called out. "Hello? Yes, this is the family of James Martin… What? We'll be there right away." Her Aunt's words had become low, hushed and hard to hear, but when she had hung up the phone she had approached Kayla with a solemn look on her face. _

_"Kayla," she had begun, a catch of emotion causing her words to shake slightly. "Your father… your father's been in a car accident. He's in the hospital and his condition is critical."_

_She had frozen at hearing her aunt's words. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. However, upon arriving at the hospital with her aunt and seeing her father lying motionless on the bed in the Intensive Care Unit - bandaged up, tubes coming from various parts of his body- the undeniable truth had begun to sink in._

_She had rushed to his bedside and spoke. "Daddy?" Nothing. "Daddy, come on, wake up". Still there had been no response to her pleas. "Daddy please, please wake up." Silence. Fear had choked her as she looked at her aunt and the head surgeon, tears brimming in her eyes. "He's going to be okay, isn't he?" _

_They had looked at each other, then at her. "Come with me please," the surgeon had requested, leading them from the room. Once they had stepped outside the room, the head surgeon turned to her. _

_"Kayla, your father has sustained some critical injuries, the most serious being a fractured skull. We've done everything we can, but we're not sure when or if he'll wake up."_

_"No," she had whispered, "you're wrong. YOU'RE WRONG!" She had run back to his bedside and clung to his motionless body. "Daddy, daddy wake up. Tell them they're wrong, tell them you'll be okay." The sobs had wracked her body until her aunt gently pulled her away._

_"Kayla, Honey, let's go home and get some rest. I promise we'll come back first thing in the morning," her Aunt had soothed._

_She had allowed her aunt to lead her from the room, looking back at her father one more time, hoping and praying that she wouldn't lose him._

_The next day when she had arrived at her father's hospital room, she saw that he was awake. "Daddy?" She had questioned as relief and hope had flared within her._

_Whispering her name, he had held his hand out to her, which she hadn't hesitated to accept. _

_"I'm sorry," her father had apologized softly. _

_"For what?" she had asked in confusion, tears filling her eyes as her voice became overcome with emotion and shook._

_"For doing this to you," her father had answered. _

_"It's not your fault," she had reassured him._

_"If I don't make it, I want you to know, that I love you. I know I didn't say it often, but I do. You're the most precious thing in the world to me."_

_At that moment she hadn't been able to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks at her father's heartfelt, but fatalistic words. "I love you too, Daddy. And you are going to make it. Everything's going to be fine. You'll see." _

_Little had she known that those would be the last words they'd ever speak to each other._

_She had spent the night again at Aunt Nina's while her father was in the hospital, and the next morning, the phone rang. _

_Picking it up she had answered, "Hello?" _

_The voice on the other end of the phone had asked, "Is this the family of Mr. James Martin?" _

_"Yes it is," she had answered, her heart in her throat as a ball of dread formed in her stomach. _

_"I'm afraid we have some bad news. Mr. Martin has taken a turn for the worse. Please come as soon as you can." _

_The phone had clattered to the floor. Her worst nightmare had come true. Hearing the noise, Aunt Nina had rushed into the kitchen. _

_"Kayla, Honey, what's wrong? Who was that on the phone?" her Aunt had asked in concern._

_Struggling to get the words out, she had looked up and said, "The hospital. Daddy had a seizure during the night and…" Unable to finish the sentence, she had collapsed to the floor as wave after wave of overwhelming terror rocked her to her very core._

_The next week had passed in a blur. Between her father's funeral, moving in with Aunt Nina, and preparing for her freshman year in high school, it had felt like her world was spinning in a kaleidoscope of colours, sounds, images and emotions that she was unable to handle. But she had, eventually. _

Anxious to get home and shake these dark, sorrowful images of her past from her mind, she got up and left the coffee shop. After getting off the subway, she made a detour to the grocery store near her apartment building to pick up a few essentials. Leaving the store she began the short walk home, which unfortunately also included walking past a dark alleyway.

Being a single woman living alone in a big city, she thought it prudent to learn a few basic self-defense moves, nothing fancy, just something basic to get her away from a dangerous/life-threatening situation. However, this did not cut down on the nervousness she felt as she walked past the alley.

Her fear was confirmed when a hand suddenly went over her mouth, and an arm around her waist, dragging her into the alley, causing her to drop her groceries.

Acting on instinct, she brought back her elbow and rammed it as hard as she could into the unknown assailant's stomach. Then, realizing that there was another attacker who grabbed at her when the first had let go, she slammed her foot down as hard as she could onto the other person's. The man groaned in pain and released her, giving her the opportunity to turn around and give him a swift knee to the groin. She then took off running as fast as fast she could, forgetting about her groceries and remembering what she was told in self-defense class; to get away as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, she didn't get far, running right into a hard chest. She landed with an "ooommmph" onto the cold hard concrete, a tall figure looming over her with a malicious sneer on his face. She scrambled to her feet and began to back away from the figure until she felt her back hit a brick wall. Soon, she found herself surrounded by four men armed with various weapons. It was then that she noticed the Purple Dragon tattoos on their arms.

Fear began to rapidly course through her veins, her heartbeat accelerating alarmingly fast. A long list of 'if onlys' began to flow through her mind. If only she had been looking where she was going; if only she had been a little more aware of her surroundings; if only she knew more than just basic self-defense moves.

And now, as the men began to advance on her, it looked as if she was about to become just another statistic.


End file.
